Gas-burner attachment for clothes-washing machines



March 4, I930. c, W|LKIN$ON 1,749,456

GAS BURNER ATTACHMENT FOR CLOTHES WASHING MACHINES Filed Feb. 5, 1924 2Sheets-Sheet l g I/vn/ R lhrlvcss W 12 T7 RNEYS March "4, 1930. G. c.WILKINSON GAS BURNER ATTACHMENT FOR CLOTHES WASHING MACHINES Filed 19242 Sheets-Sheet 2 l'zwzlv'rae I lh'rivsss Y k M 177-1-2 mvevs'Heretofore, so far as Patented Mar. 4, 1930 Q i l-UNlTED STATES PATENTQFFICE GUY o. wirxr vson, or SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO SYRACUSEWASHING MACHINE CORPORATION, or SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION or newYORK GAS-BURNER ATTACHMENT FOR CLOTHES-WASHING MACHINES Applicationfiled February 5, 1924. Serial No. 690,727.

' This inventionrelates to a gas burner attachment for clothes washingmachines and analogous implements in which a burner is used at theunderside of a liquid-containing 5 vat'o'r tub for heating the.liq'uidtherein.

In machines of this character, the vat and power plant areusuallymounted in aneleyated position upon a suitable supporting frameprovidedwith casters whereby the en- 15 tire apparatusmay be moved fromplace to place along the floor of a laundry or other room in which themachine is located and it therefore, becomes necessary to provide aflexibl'e'hose or pipe for connecting the burner to a suitable source ofgas supply thus permitting the machineto be moved to a comvenientposition within certain limits without disconnecting the I gasburner from the source of supply. I 1

I am aware, the gas burnerchasbeen installed in a fixed positiondirectly under the bottom of the vat which made it necessary for theuser to bend low or kneel upon the floor in a more or lessuncomforta-ble po'sitionin order to light the' burner and ials'o'to'seethatit was properly adjusted or extinguished duringthe heated.process after the liquid had become sufliciently heated.

Another serious objection to the use of the fixed burner arose "from thefactthat the flexible pipe usually remained attached to both the burneri and gas supply fixture with more or less of'the pipe lying upon thefloor resulting in more or less inconvenience to the user in'moving"about the machine and in some instances causing said user to trip uponthe pipeand to 'fall upon the floor with a more or less seriousconsequences and in other instances resulting in the overturning of themachine with the resultant spilling of the hot water upon the floor andattendant dangers therefrom.

The main object of my present invention is to obviate thesediflicultiesand dangers by "mounting, the burner upon the frame in. such manner thatit may be easily and quickly moved from its operative position under thevat to a position at one side thereof and also permitting said burnerwith the flexible pipe attached thereto to be easily and quickly re- .7v

moved from the frame and hung upon a suitable Wall support or upon thegas supply fixture in case the latter should be supported in the Wall.

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the burnerattachment will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a clothes washingmachine and the burner attachment including the flexible pipe and supplyfixture in operative positionready for use, the dotted lines indicatingthe burner with the flexible pipe usually attached thereto as hung uponthe gas fixture when not in use.

Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan of the burner attachment showing aportion of the supporting bracket and one of the legs of the machine insectionand also Showing by dotted lines, a portion of the bottom of thevet and the attachment as swung from a position under the vat to aposition at one side thereof.

FigureB is a sectional view taken on line 3*3, Figure 2, showing thelower portion of the vat in section and one'of the supporting legstherefor, upon which the burner attachment is mounted.

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the detached bracket forsupporting the burner.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood, I have shown aclothes washing machine consisting of a vat A mounted upon a suitablesupporting frame having legs a provided with castors awhereby the entiremachine may be easily moved from place to place along the floor of theroom in which the machine is installed, and have also shown a gas pipefixture B- secured to one of the side walls of the room for attachmentto a source of gas supply and provided with a valve b for controllingthe gas supply to the burner as C.

This burner may be of any desired construction suitable for the purposeand is provided with a radially projecting supporting arm 1 having oneend rigidly secured thereto and its other end provided with a downwardlyand axially oiiset extension a of the frame vof the machine a sufficientdistance below the bottom of the vat' A to support the burner below'said bottom with its upper end in spaced relation thereto to allow theflame issuing from the upper end of the burner to impinge against theunderside of the bottom for heating the water in the vat.

This bracket 2- extends laterally to one side of the leg a/ to which itisisecured and is provided with vertically alined journal bearingsor'opening's 4 for receiving the downwardly offset end 1 of the arm Theupper end of the lateral extension of the bracket 2 is provided withanup standing flange 5 surrounding the upper end of the upper bearing-4eto" form a horizontal ledge upon which the adjacent portion of thearm 1 may ride when turning the arm to a position at one side thereof asshown by full lines and by dotted lines in Figure 2, and thereby tosupport the burner at the desired level under the vat.

The upstanding flange 5 is elongated in one direction horizontally so asto extend partly under the adjacent side of the vat, its outer end beingconcentric with the axis: of the bearings 4- while its inner end extends a greater distance beyond said axis and is provided with a recess-6 open at the top to receive the adjacent portion of the arm 1 when theburner is adjusted for use thereby holding the arm and burner supportedthereby against accidental displacement from its operativeposition.

In other'words, when the arm '1 with the burner C- is adjusted to thedesired position under the vat for heating purposes, its own weightcauses the arm '1'to drop into the recess 6, but when it'is desired toshift the arm 1 with the burner there on outwardly to a position beyondthe vat or at one side thereof as shown by dotted lines in Figure 2, itis simply necessary to lift the arm 1'with the burner thereon out of therecess 6 and then to swing it outwardly along and upon the upper edge ofthe flange 5 where'it will rest at any desired angle by its own'weight.7 v 7 One side of the flange 5-, preferably that facing the leg a isprovided with an upward extension 7 forming a stop for limiting theinward swinging movement of the arm 1, said stop' being preferablylocated at the inside of the axis of the bearings l. I i

' This extension 7 is also provided with anyother suitable wall supportan additional extension 7 projecting laterally toward the opposite sideof the flange and directly over the intervening space to form anadditional stop for limiting theupward movement of the arm 1 with theburner thereon, the lower face of the lateral extension 7*.being spacedabove the upper edge of the flange 5, a distance slight ly greater thanthe diameter of the adjacent portion of the arm 1' so as to allow saidarm to be raised out of the recess 6- and turned angularly aboutthe axisof the bearings 4 to permit the arm with the burner thereon to be swungfrom a position under the vat to a position at one sidejthereof asshownby full lines and by dotted lines in FigureQ, while at the sametime,the stop 7--' prevents the upward displacement of the downwardlyprojecting offset 1-- from its bearings until the arm "-1 with theburner thereon has been swung outwardly to the outside of the Vet or toa position beyond the outer edge of the stop 7 at which time the arm 1with the burner thereon may be removed from the bracket by upwarddisplacement, r i

The means forsupplying gas from the fixture 'B to the valve -c' of theburner C' consists in this instance, of a flexible pipe or housing 8-having one end attached to a suitable nipple oni'the valve c and itsother endzsimilarly attached to the nipple of the valvebof the fixture Bthose parts to beremovedfromthe bracket 2 and hung upon' the fixture Bor r as shown by dotted lines in Figure 1. V a Y I V ,7 Operation Whenit is desired to use the burner for heating purposes, the arm'l with theburner thereon is firstrocked laterally from r a position under the vattoa position outside thereof as shown by dotted lines in Figure 2whereupon the valves vb and-'0' --may be properlyadjusted to supply thedesired gas which may then be lighted at the tip c through openingsusually provided in the bottom of the burner or if desired, the lightingmedium may be applied to the openings in the top of the burner.

When the gas is lighted, the arm with the burner thereon is returned toaposition under the vat until the arm 1- drops into the recess -6, theburner being then in position for use in heading the water in'the vat. Ii 1 After the water has been heated to the desired degree, the gassupply may be shut off preferably by closing the valve b whereupon thearm -1 with the burner C thereon may be lifted against the stop 7- andthen rocked outwardly to the position indicated by dotted lines inFigure 2 at which time the arm with the burner thereon still connectedto the hose 8 may be hung upon the fixture B- leaving the washingmachine free to be moved to any convenient position for washing purposesand at the same time, removing the hose from the floor and avoiding thedangers which might arise from leaving the burner in place with the hoseconnected thereto.

The. construction shown and described is particularly simple andeflicient, but obvious- 1y, may of the details may be changed withoutdeparting from the spirit of this invention.

What I claim is:

A gas burner attachment for clothes washing machines and the likecomprising a bracket having an offset support and an upright journalbearing in the support, a laterally extending support adjacent the upperend of the bearing, and a lug overhanging a portion of the last namedsupport and being offset from the bearing, said bearing being adapted toreceive an offset extension of a burner supporting arm, thedistancebetween the free end of the lug and upper surface of the laterallyextending support being sufiicient to permit the passage therebetween ofthe offset extension of the burner supporting arm.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 1st day of February,1924.

GUY G. WILKINSON.

